


Hugs are sometimes necessary

by sweaterwearer04



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, not ship. i will kill, today's stream was insanely good and i will probably never be over it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29855700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweaterwearer04/pseuds/sweaterwearer04
Summary: Sam finally comes to deliver more food to Dream in his prison cell. He did not expect to find a newly-resurrected Tommy in the cell with him. Feat. big brother Sam, unapologetic Dream, and a tasteful balance of hurt/comfort.
Relationships: Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit
Comments: 7
Kudos: 199





	Hugs are sometimes necessary

Who knows how long it's been since Tommy's resurrection when the obsidian box of his entrapment finally clears itself of the sickening orange haze of lava. The sounds of pistons soon follow, and Tommy, exhausted beyond all reason, hears what he can assume to be a bag of raw potatoes tumble to the ground.

"Tommy? Oh my god, Tommy. How--"

Sam's words twist around themselves and blur together. Tommy makes little effort to acknowledge his presence, choosing instead to remain sat near the entrance of Dream's cell against the obsidian wall, which is almost sticky from the sweltering heat of the environment. Without moving his head, he side-eyes the floor of the cavernous space left by the retracted lava, letting his eyes unfocus along with his ears.

Suddenly, Tommy is snapped back to reality by two firm, yet gentle, gloved hands on his shoulders. He closes his lips, which had previously been parted out of sheer exhaustion, and manages to croak out a pathetic "Sam," prompting the recipient to tense and briefly loosen his grip. He can't see the warden's eyes underneath the foreboding gas mask, but he assumes his brows are furrowed in confusion, worry maybe. Tommy uses the last of his strength to heave his upper body weight forwards, and feebly props his forehead against Sam's chestplate. It's cool to the touch, a small comfort. 

Dream snickers. Sam ignores it, even though he definitely heard it. Tommy would have perhaps retaliated, but that was before. Everything was different, now. 

"Tommy." Sam removes his hands from Tommy's shoulders. The latter sorely misses the anchor-like sense of pressure until the former hugs him more closely, using the thumb of one hand to soothingly rub the top of Tommy's head. The bridge of Tommy's nose settles into the crook of Sam's shoulder, where his chestplate doesn't quite reach. Tommy's eyes stay open. He still hasn't quite managed to focus his eyesight and he's not sure why, but he really can't spare too much energy to think about it. 

"Tommy," Sam begins again. "Are you okay, buddy?" Tommy forces out a weak "mmmm" in response, and that's all Sam needs. He lets the boy go, giving one last reaffirming squeeze to his shoulder before standing up and turning around to face Dream.  
"I don't know what the _fuck _happened," he shakily states with a hollow tone, "but your life just got a whole lot harder, Dream." Sam knows with his stature, height, and mask, he is naturally intimidating. However, he should have known better than to assume that Dream would be put off by those things, when he had never before displayed an aversion to them.__

__The orange clad man pops himself off of the wall, where he had previously been jauntily leaning, and steps directly up to Sam, dusting his hands with the attitude of a middle school bully. "Alright, Sam." He flashes a grin. "But, for the record," he jeers, "I really couldn't care less." He finishes his advance with his freckled face less than a few centimeters away from Sam's, the taller of which had refused to move a mite, bewildered yet stubborn._ _

__Sam silently curses himself as his mind blanks on a suitable response. His knuckles grow white as he realizes hes gripping the hilt of his sword. Dream's eyes flick down to the offending blade and back up into Sam's goggles. He smile doesn't falter. In fact, Sam might be seeing things, but he could almost swear that it grows a little wider._ _

__He is distracted, however, by a cough from Tommy, who is evidently trying to bring himself to his feet. Sam delivers one final glare to Dream-- ascertained, he can't see it, but it's the thought that counts-- before turning back to Tommy and helping the boy up, supporting him by the waist and placing the teen's frail arm around the back of his neck._ _

__As the two ride the piston-operated platform away from Dream, the prisoner says, "Goodbye, Tommy," drawing out the vowels in some sort of sick, singsong transmittal. Sam glances down at the boy, who glares ahead, pupils narrowing, lip quivering. Trying so hard to be strong. The platform reaches its destination, the pair step onto firm ground, and Tommy immediately separates himself from Sam, crossing his arms and refusing still to make eye contact. He's feeling a little bit better, physically, and doesn't need the support. He hates himself for using the man as a crutch in front of Dream. His eyesight is still blurry._ _

__Sam pauses in a moment of worry before going to his operating panel and commanding the curtain of lava back to its designated place. He wants to reach out, but he doesn't know how. The combination of living far from the greater SMP and burdening himself with the duties of a warden had forced him out of touch, so to speak. Although he's finished what he needs to do at the panel, he doesn't turn from it, putting a hand against the wall for stability. How can he possibly provide any comfort to the death-defying teenager stood in the center of the room?_ _

__"I died." The words, although weak in delivery, cut through the atmosphere like a knife. Sam whips around to face the boy, horrified. Of course he knows that. But how can he possibly reply to such a statement?_ _

__"I know." _Damnit, damnit, damnit. _This isn't right. He needs to-- but how can he--___ _

____"I died, Sam."_ _ _ _

____Sam swiftly removes his mask and chestplate, setting the items on the ground as he almost trips over himself to level with Tommy. "Tommy," he starts, before seeing the look on the boy's face._ _ _ _

____Tommy's vision is blurry. His arms are folded in on themselves, hands tucked into his sides and shoulders hunched up and tense. His foot, he realized at one point, had begun to tap on the ground anxiously. And, as he finally makes eye contact with Sam, whose features are twisted into an expression of unbridled concern, the dams break._ _ _ _

____Sam noticed Tommy's knees buckle just in time and catches him, lowering them both onto the ground and locking him into an embrace, away from Dream, this time. Tommy cries, ugly crying, laced with hiccups and sniffles and everything in between. Sam, in a moment of instinct, begins to speak softly, repeating phrases like, "Shhhh" and "It's okay" over Tommy's head. He again starts gently tousling the boy's hair. "It's going to be okay," he assures, over Tommy's unabashed sobbing. "You're going to be alright," he tries to convince both of them, as the boy hugs Sam back like his life depends on it._ _ _ _

____Finally, after 10 minutes or so, Tommy's crying begins to subside. He makes no move to change position, though, as the sniffles fade, opting instead to keep hold of Sam, as if afraid he might disappear._ _ _ _

____"Do you want to talk about it?" Sam offers, still unsure of what exactly to say._ _ _ _

____Tommy buries his face further into Sam's shoulder and lets out a long puff of air. "I mean, I probably owe some sort of explanation, big man." His voice is nearly a croak, still, and it suddenly occurs to Sam that Dream had probably had complete jurisdiction over their amenities while Tommy was in that godless cell._ _ _ _

____"Nevermind it for now," Sam quickly backtracks, "let's get you out of here."_ _ _ _

____Tommy laughs weakly. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words."_ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Guys it's really late so I'm not sure but there MIGHT be issues with tense in here but I really can't be bothered to read over it again. Anyways, I've only written a fic once before and it was literally 4 years ago so hopefully this is okay. I mostly wrote this for myself, though, so I don't care, haw haw.


End file.
